CopBlock Founder Ademo Freeman To Square Off In Court Against Drug War

in freedom •  7 years ago 

By Asa J of CopBlock.org

Next week, CopBlock co-founder Ademo Freeman will square off against those wishing to send him to prison for peacefully traveling with medical marijuana in a state that also recognizes legal medicinal use of the plant.

You heard that right. Due to the lack of legal framework surrounding medical use of cannabis in Ohio (even though the state passed medical cannabis in 2016), Ademo faces up to six years in prison and fines of $20,000 when he stands trail on January 11 for possession of his medicine.

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As such, Ohio law stipulates that the Board of Pharmacy attempt to negotiate and enter into reciprocity agreements with other medical marijuana states before allowing use of their medicine. Before entering into an agreement with another state, the Board must determine that the state meet certain criteria.

First, the eligibility requirements imposed by the other state in order to obtain a registry identification card have to be substantially comparable to Ohio’s requirements. Second, the other state must also recognize patient or caregiver registration and identification cards issued in Ohio. Ohio has no such agreement with Colorado, the state Ademo obtained his medical cannabis card in, nor any other state for that matter. In fact, the politicians of Ohio have dragged their feet for two years on this issue depriving who knows how many from receiving medical cannabis and killing countless others.

Ademo is no stranger to the criminal justice system. Shortly after founding CopBlock with activist and friend Pete Eyre in 2010 the two were part of a group of activists arrested for recording public officials at the Franklin County, Massachusetts jail.

The following year Ademo was arrested for wiretapping and faced 21 years in prison after video surfaced from West High School in Manchester, New Hampshire showing a student being roughly pushed down onto a cafeteria table by police detective Darren Murphy.

Ademo recorded telephone conversations he had with a Manchester police captain, the West High principal and her assistant in attempt to bring attention to the incident. He represented himself in court and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years of probation. Those convictions were later thrown out by the New Hampshire Supreme Court however.

CopBlock is a decentralized organization made up of a diverse group of individuals united by their shared belief that “badges don’t grant extra rights,” CopBlock.org states. In this pursuit CopBlockers routinely draw attention to police brutality and corruption and are known for their controversial and sometimes intense encounters with police. Naturally, shining a light on the domestic enforcement arm of government attracts unwanted attention. In February, Ademo was arrested and charged with possession and trafficking marijuana and possession of hash oil in Warren County, Ohio.

According to WCPO, 24 pounds of marijuana and 26 vials of hash oil were found in Ademo’s car after he was pulled over by Ohio State Troopers for a missing license plate light. He was arraigned on a $75,000 bond.

From behind bars Ademo routinely spoke out about police accountability issues and problems with the criminal justice system. He was released from jail in March following a major bond reduction having refused a plea deal to serve one year in prison.

Ademo has long been a crusader against the drug war, an issue that routinely garners attention on the pages of CopBlock.org. An advocate of self-ownership and an opponent of victimless crime laws, it was in fact a 2004 marijuana conviction that ultimately led Ademo to co-found CopBlock.

Now, almost 14 years later, Ademo continues to stand up for his individual right to decide for himself what to put in his own body. Next Thursday he will stand trial in Warren County having refused another plea offer this week that would have resulted in a 36 month prison sentence suspended for 6 months in jail and three years probation.

In a live Facebook video on Friday Ademo explained why.

“I’m a medical marijuana patient, ” he said. “I held a valid medical marijuana card until December 17 of last year. Everything I was in possession of that day was my medicine.”

Having lived in Colorado for a short while Ademo decided to return to Ohio temporarily after his plans to make a permanent move to the state didn’t work out. Ademo and his spouse (at the time) had decided not to move his partner’s children so far from their biological father (who came back into his young childrens life) and instead set up a forever home in Michigan (another medical MJ state) after the kids finished school. The only problem was, Ademo never made it back. He was caged by state troopers in the Warren County jail for simply stepping over a line into an occupied territory that seriously needs to clarify its laws regarding the legal use of medicinal cannabis.

“While they say ‘trafficking,’ I had everything I owned in my car,” Ademo said. “There was no drug bust. There were no informants. This wasn’t done at a DUI [checkpoint], I didn’t sell weed to an undercover cop. That’s not my intention. I use weed for medical purposes and I merely had six months worth of medicine with me.”

Ademo has asked people to please call assistant prosecutor Chris Delnicki at the telephone number 513-695-1325 to voice their support. He has also asked friends to send character letters stating that jail isn’t the proper punishment for his so-called “crimes” to Delnicki and/or Judge Robert Peeler at the address: 520 Justice Drive Lebanon, Ohio 45036.

“I don’t believe that my actions deserve 36 months in prison,” Ademo said. “When I go to trial I’m not asking to not be punished. I’m asking not to be punished anymore. I’ve done nearly 50 days in jail. I’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, lost a years worth of time and have basically been on probation for a year. I believe that that’s enough for someone with a medical marijuana card.”

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Oh wow, all that for a plant, SMH!

The most dangerous plant in the world. Dangerous because it opens people's minds to Alternative thoughts. Dangerous because it opens the mind to release a flood of artistic expression. Dangerous because it makes people question the political realities that they live in day to day. Literally the most dangerous plant in the world.

Yep!

Yeah, weed is dangerous. So dangerous that it's virtually impossible to overdose. Yikes! Someone needs to do something about that.

That is ridiculous! End the drug war now!

This stuff is so insane. We've spent over a trillion dollars on this fictitious, War on Drugs. It we have such an intense dislike for drugs, why did the CIA start the Crack epidemic in LA, back in the 80's? As a matter of fact, I just watched the Netflix documentary about it last night. It's entitled, "Freeway: Crack in the System."

We now live in a time where tyranny and insanity rules over us, black is white, and wrong is right. Ademo Freeman is doing what he knows to be right, by calling out bad cops for their atrocious behavior, and he should be on the government's payroll, not behind bars! Also, to deprive anyone of their legal medical is absurd!

If decency, any level of morality, and common sense ever takes control again, we'll look back at this horrible period, and all agree that this CAN NEVER be repeated!

Good luck Mr. Freeman, and thank you Adam for posting this.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Yes the USA spent a lot of money on the drug war. But you forget the money that it makes as a result of the drug war. Think about all the sales of weapons, aircraft, armored vehicles, spy equipment, training and specialist training, and the political advantages that the United States and Other Drug Warrior Nations have gotten as a result of this policy. Make no mistake this policy does not exist to manhandle some green behind the ears guy smoking a joint in a park, it exists to make money and to exert political power, and at times also as a form of racial oppression. I find it interesting that Americans are having a tug-of-war debate about states rights versus federal laws when there are Nations on the Western Hemisphere that would prefer to legalize and regulate and thereby control drugs and protect Society best, but these nations have time and time again voiced that they are terrified of the political and other consequences that could come upon them because they know that the United States the regional superpower will not be happy with this policy change. Imagine if Venezuela legalized marijuana tomorrow, surely the US government would claim that Venezuela is some kind of drug producing terrorist nation that is mass producing and exporting drugs to into the United States. It would be wise for smaller Nations and especially Nations that are not on the friends list of the USA to not go this path alone. As the saying goes there is safety in numbers.
I'm calling on the American people to end this drug war policy immediately. The ending of this policy will immediately create millions of jobs and a massive inflow of tax revenue. And millions of people will no longer be criminals simply because they like to consume a plant. And children will be better protected because the people that sell it legally will not risk their entire business in order to sell $20 of ganja to a 15 year old school boy, whose parents might find it and then report this business to the police something that they would never do today when it's gang members selling children the drugs. It is not moral to treat people who have not done anything to anybody and who have not forced anyone to do what they are doing like criminals. On the one hand they say that if women want to abort babies it's their body and they can do what they want and the man has no say in that. But then when a man wants to smoke a joint to console himself in his time of need then he becomes a criminal simply because someone in a suit decided that this is what it will be. We need an international law that says no one, no Parliament, no nation Etc can declare a plant and it's use illegal. A fucking plant♨

"...the money that it makes as a result of the drug war." <-- That says it all. It reminds me of the 'Protection Rackets' the Mafia used/uses. Business owners pay the criminal thugs to protect them. Who are they protecting them from? The criminal thugs. Most governments, and especially the US, are little more than well-armed, and well-financed criminal organizations that operate under a pretty flag.

When I was a young man, things weren't quite this bad, or I should say, it wasn't as, in-your-face. The older I get the more their crimes, illusion and hypocrisy becomes evident.

Freedom and Justice for All

Yeah, right. You get just as much Freedom and Justice as you can afford.

It was more behind the scenese which begs the question why they ramped it up so much.

Is it b/c we have become more educated due to the Internet?

Great comment.

Next time can you please use proper parag. structure so it's not a wall of text & I can read without being in pain?

Thanks a ton : )

No problem, thank you for reading and replying with such passion!

You're welcome. I feel pretty strongly about this stuff.

Reefer madness has got end!

This has me raging. Desperately sad. Glad to have found you on Steemit though, Adam! Keep up the good work. Peace!

Glad you found me too! Gave you a follow.

I've been watching your videos for years. Probably since around 2010. The street interviews / questions were my all-time favourites - and the gun activism and civil disobedience. Definitely one of the main inspirations in forming my political identity. I've been telling my American pals to give you a vote in 2020 and will be reminding them closer to the date! Thanks for the follow dude.

I love the Man on the Street vids too. They are a great teaching tool.

Crazy!

The war on drugs is bullshit. Just look at the fact anyone can get drugs in the most secure place in the country - prisons.

Good point!

I did not think about that! Haha, sounds like the joke is now them.

Crazy right! I say legalize all drugs to stop arresting people in mass, make money off the taxes, and stop cartel crimes.

#EndTheDrugWar !! This is bullshit. they must be crazy

Oh they are!

Doesn't Jeff Sessions have better things to be looking at?

I so wonder what type of person he is. Is he so uptight and miserable that he has to make everyone else miserable. I look at him and think, if anyone could use some porn and a joint, it would be him! Try to enjoy life and not control everyone else's.

It's crappy people can still get in so much trouble for weed. Being a Colorado native and seeing what Sessions is trying to do, too, is a little worrisome. I've gotten used to pot not being a big deal

It sure is worrisome for anyone who advocates for freedom!

Fuck the drug war, my account is specially dedicated into it... I rambled about it on DTube and several other things, it is a failed racist, evil and hateful policy that must end! Just like the state itself, LOL! :D

This isn't really a pot bust, IMHO. It's an arbitrary arrest and removal from society of a person the state has reason to prefer to use as a wholly-owned slave, rather than merely one they own a percentage of, like all taxpayers.

Ohio's legal disarray over medical pot is a weapon.

While I hope Ademo manages to wriggle free from their grasp this time, I hope we can see that the battle lines between statists and free people are drawn in our hearts. It is time for a just society, one in which people find it offensive when others claim beneficial interest in them, as if they were corporate owned racehorses.

It's hard not to see Ademo as on point in this battle, and therefore likely to be attacked first. It's also difficult to grasp a coherent plan to win the war on the part of free people. That makes him far more vulnerable.

There are millions, if not billions, of people around the world that have realized they aren't free, and want to fix that. If we can coordinate our efforts and focus on particular locales and policies that are particularly vulnerable, we might make some headway.

Instead, we see great progress being made to monitor and specify the speech and acts of we slaves, such as with pot laws, and hate speech laws in Germany. The slavers are winning.

They are winning because they are willing and able to coordinate $T's in research, policy, and weapons of war, creating point men, like Germany's hate speech laws, or the USA's surveillance state, that are protected and effective at increasing their power.

Is there an equivalent mechanism where we slaves are able to focus our power to gain more freedom?

Thanks!

Of course they 'win' in a figurative way. People have no choice but compliance or it's off to the slammer.

owo its Really great thanks for shereing good idea

Wow nice post.and you are a excellent photography. Thanks for your next post.@adamkokesh

Hello Adam, I’ve been following your activism for years and can’t express how important I feel your work is. You really get to people. Thank you. I’m sure at times it’s exhausting.

If you have time I think this is an important and timely issue.
https://steemit.com/news/@choosefreedom/what-happened-to-the-marijuana-justice-act-of-2017

so information

fucking stupid shit right here. the war on drugs is pathetic institutional racism.

thank you for the article. resteemed

I hope he makes it! But I lol'd about the poundage in his car. So funny. Nothing says FU to freedom vampires like 24 pounds of cannabis. Thank you, Ademo!

24 pounds of harmless plants, tusk tusk, must remove his freedom, as he might start a revolution after smoking that harmless stuff.

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